Hudson, N.Y., wakes up to art and antiques boom

HUDSON, N.Y. — The Rip Van Winkle Bridge, or The Rip as it is referred to with great affection, spans the Hudson River between Catskill on the west side and Hudson on the east.

These two small towns were the setting for Washington Irving’s short story Rip Van Winkle. Published in 1819, this is the tale of a henpecked husband named Rip, who went to sleep for 20 years after meeting up with the ghosts of Captain Henry Hudson and his crew who were playing a game of nine-pins in a spooky hollow of the Catskill Mountains. Captain Hudson had explored the river, named after him, in 1609.

Rip awoke, shocked to find his hometown had fast-forwarded two decades.

Like Rip, the sleepy town of Hudson had been snoozing for years before it also awoke to a strange new world in the early 1990s. The quiet riverside town was discovered by Manhattanites, and overnight it buzzed with cocktail-party openings for sophisticated art galleries, upscale antique shops and trendy eateries.

Only two hours by train from Manhattan’s Penn Station, the little Hudson Amtrak station, built in 1874, welcomed hordes of visitors arriving on Thursdays and Fridays, who could easily walk to the town’s inexpensive, but fashionable inns.

Antiques anew

The first visionaries to see the potential of Hudson’s scenic location next to the wide Hudson River were antique dealers, who started setting up shop in 1988, bringing life to many boarded-up buildings on Warren Street. Some of the early pioneer dealers that are still in business are Doyle Antiques, Vincent Mulford Antiques, Arenskjold Antiques & Art, and Sutter Antiques, said Larry Forman, president of Hudson Antiques Dealers Association.

Hudson antique shops have a mix of design styles from vintage industrial to high-end 18th-century furnishings and sleek mid-century sofas. But there is a Hudson design aesthetic that’s all about Manhattan style and timeless one-of-a-kind pieces.

“We opened in 1991 after the big wave of antique dealers came to Hudson,” said Lena Petersen, gallery associate.

The morning I visited the gallery, soft morning light highlighted a presentation of Hudson painter Jack Walls’ new series, “Negatives,” abstract and primitive heads painted in black and white. The longer I looked at the artwork painted on surfaces stitched together from bits and pieces of canvas, I could discern crooked lips and off-centered eyes.

“They’re based on African masks,” Petersen said as she walked from her office so we could admire the paintings together. She pointed out Walls’ other paintings that were even more intense in brilliant colors.

The gallery on Warren Street represents 80 artists and presents seven shows a year that bring the cognoscenti from the city.

But long before this art renaissance in Hudson, another group of artists had discovered the valley. Called the Hudson River School, the artists, led by Thomas Cole, painted the area’s spectacular landscapes in the mid-1800s.

Frederic Edwin Church, Cole’s protege, built a spectacular mountain-top villa, Olana, which can be seen from The Rip.

The mansion’s design was based on the castle-like houses Church saw on his travels in the Middle East, particularly Beirut and Damascus. The name Olana is a variation of “olane,” a fortress-treasure house in ancient Persia. The family moved into the villa in the fall of 1872; Church continued to work on the house’s additions for the next 20 years.

The villa is open for guided tours. Many visitors take a picnic lunch and spend several hours on the grounds at the crest of Long Hill, which has panoramic views of the river valley. I was there in October and the leaves were just beginning to turn to brilliant oranges, reds and yellows — a sight that inspired the Hudson River School artists.

New inns

The best way to experience Hudson and its artistic rejuvenation is by staying in one of the new inns. The historic Hudson Milliner Guesthouse and Inn, which opened 2013, features exposed brick walls, 14-foot ceilings and early industrial furniture. Built in 1860, the building was a millinery providing Hudson residents with hats for almost a century.

Another popular downtown inn is the 27-room Rivertown Lodge, which had a cool retro-redo. A movie theater from 1928 to 1958 and then the Warren Motel, the inn offers custom-made beds and brass light fixtures by New York design studio Workstead, and hand-built furniture from Rhinebeck furniture maker Sawkille.

Outside Hudson, Mount Merino Manor, one of the original Hudson Valley estates, was built by Frederic Church’s friend and physician Gustavus Sabine in the 1870s. The manor, now a luxurious inn, and its 100-acre gardens offer sweeping views of the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains.

All of these inns would have been perfect places for Rip’s 20-year snooze.